Eastleigh Voice journalist seeks justice after being assaulted by police outside BBS Mall

For the last 10 days, Ahmed Ibrahim Shafat has been walking with a painful limp that has rendered him unable to walk past a kilometre or sit for long.

Shafat, a photographer at The Eastleigh Voice is the latest victim of police brutality that was meted against him on Christmas night outside the Business Bay Square (BBS) Mall after running an errand inside the facility.

He recalls that he had left the mall in the company of a staff at the facility when two boda boda riders that were moving towards 12th Street along General Waruinge road, slightly misaligned their paths and collided with each other both landing on the ground in a painful fall that was witnessed by several bystanders.

"What happened next is what led me to my current state. One of the officers who was manning the entrance to the mall started beating one of the riders in a bid to clear him from the road. At the beginning, the beating seemed innocent and minor but he went on much to the displeasure of the onlookers who had started gathering to question his actions," recalls Shafat.

Unable to also ignore what was happening, Shafat says he sought to de-escalate the situation by questioning the officer's handling of the innocent rider, but the officer shrugged him off.

"He said, don't talk to me but I insisted and asked him, "bro" aren't you a human being?" Shafat recalls the exchange that happened before mayhem ensued.

He recalls that two of the officer's colleagues also deployed to man the entrance that day, walked to him and started attacking him with blows and a pipe.

"My friend also tried to intervene while they continued beating me. He was slapped on the face but told them he was a staff member of the mall and they let him go. I had to run into the mall for safety," recalls Shafat.

He says he then walked to the management of the mall to report the incident and requested to be shown the CCTV footage recording of the incident but did not receive any assistance.

As he left the mall afterwards, the officers handed him back his watch which had fallen in the ensuing melee that left him nursing injuries and in severe physical pain.

He is however yet to recover his house keys and eyeglasses and he says his phone got damaged during the incident.

"I left the mall and filed a report at the Eastleigh North police station where I was advised to proceed to a public hospital, fill in a P3 form and return it to the station, which I did. Unfortunately, I lost hope of finding justice there as the officers then asked me to avail the CCTV footage with the recording of the incident, which is clearly not my duty," he says.

In his quest for justice, Shafat then moved to the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) on Thursday and filed a complaint.

"IPOA promised to investigate the incident. I just need justice, because of the suffering I have had to endure since the attack happened that has me walking with a painful limp that limits my mobility and affects my work output," he says.

The incident casts a spotlight on the officers' mode of handling people at the entrance to the mall, with many locals saying they have witnessed unnecessary harassment of people outside the mall as the officers clear human traffic.

"Such incidents tarnish the reputation of major corporations that serve the public and erode public trust in security institutions. I urge the BBS Mall's management to act with integrity and accountability in helping uncover the truth by releasing that day's footage to security agencies so that the officers can be held accountable for their actions as all the victims can get justice," Shafat urged.